NHL Board Approves Realignment, Division-Based Playoff Format

The National Hockey League's Board of Governors has approved realignment and a division-based format for the Stanley Cup Playoffs, effective for the 2013-14 season. The realignment plan creates two eight-team divisions in the Eastern Conference and two seven-team divisions in the Western Conference. The names of the divisions will be formalized at a later date.

"The Dallas Stars enthusiastically support the decision by the NHL Board of Governors for realignment commencing in 2013-14," said Dallas Stars President and CEO Jim Lites. "Once enacted, the Realignment Plan will put the Stars back in a geographically friendly division and will reignite historical rivalries with teams like Chicago and St. Louis. Virtually all of our divisional games, which make up a significant portion of our schedule, will now start in the Central Time Zone, making our start times more convenient for our broadcast partners, sponsors, and most importantly our fans. We're also thrilled that our fans will get the opportunity to watch all NHL clubs at American Airlines Center at least once every year. This is a significant change that will greatly benefit all aspects of our franchise for years to come."

The new alignment will place several clubs in more geographically appropriate groupings and will intensify already-fierce rivalries throughout the League. The new scheduling matrix will ensure that all 30 teams play in all 30 arenas at least once a season for the first time since 1997-98.

The new alignment:

WESTERN CONFERENCE EASTERN CONFERENCE

Division A Division B Division C Division D

Anaheim Chicago Boston Carolina

Calgary Colorado Buffalo Columbus

Edmonton Dallas Detroit New Jersey

Los Angeles Minnesota Florida NY Islanders

Phoenix Nashville Montreal NY Rangers

San Jose St. Louis Ottawa Philadelphia

Vancouver Winnipeg Tampa Bay Pittsburgh

Toronto Washington

Among the many strategic goals achieved by the realignment plan:

* provides the Winnipeg Jets a more geographically suitable grouping of rivals;

* enables the Columbus Blue Jackets and Detroit Red Wings to compete primarily against clubs in their own time zone;

* moves the Dallas Stars out of the Pacific Division to a more geographically appropriate and time-zone friendly grouping;

* changes the Minnesota Wild's alignment to a more historically relevant and time zone friendly grouping;

* ensures that the Colorado Avalanche, as the only U.S.-based team in the Mountain Time Zone, is placed in a more geographically suitable grouping.

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NEW REGULAR-SEASON SCHEDULE MATRIX

Western Conference (7-Team Divisions)

Within Conference (Division): 29 games

* 5 games vs. five teams (3 Home/2 Away vs. two teams, 2 Home/3 Away vs. three teams) AND 4 games vs. one team (2 Home/2 Away). Teams rotated on a yearly basis.

Playoff qualification will be primarily Division-based, with the top three finishers in each Division qualifying for the first 12 spots in the Stanley Cup Playoffs (and the first three "seeds" in each Division).

The two additional playoff spots in each Conference, designated as "Wild Cards," will be awarded to the next two highest-placed finishers in each Conference, ranked on the basis of regular-season points and regardless of Division.

"Seeding" of the Wild Card teams within each Divisional Playoff will be determined on the basis of regular-season points. The first-place finisher with the highest number of regular-season points in the Conference will be matched against the Wild Card team with the lowest number of regular-season points, and the first-place finisher with the second-highest number of regular-season points in the Conference matched against the Wild Card team with the second-lowest number of regular-season points.